Almost 4.2 million people were registered as self-employed over the three months to April, a rise of 84,000 over the previous three months and the highest figure since records began in 1992, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Economists said that the surge in self-employment has come about because people have been unable to find permanent work with companies due to the flatlining economy.

Employment groups said that there has been a particular rise in people taking on “odd jobs” as cleaners, handymen or nannies.

Gerwyn Davies, labour market policy adviser at employment group the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said: “A rise in self-employment may, in itself, be a good thing, however previous analysis from the CIPD found that the recent rise was less a sign of a resurgent enterprise culture, and more evidence of a growing army of part-time ‘odd jobbers’ desperate to avoid unemployment.”

There has also been an increase in the number of professional workers, such as accountants or office administrators, becoming self-employed and working for companies on contracts rather than as full time staff members.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said that the record level of self-employed people shows that thousands of Britons are “not very confident” about getting a job.

“People think that their best chance is setting up for themselves,” he said.

The rise in self-employment came as the ONS said that total unemployment in the UK fell by 51,000 to 2.61 million people over the three months to April. The number of unemployed is equivalent to 8.2 per cent of the working-age population.

The ONS said that a total of 166,000 jobs were created over the quarter. However a large proportion of these came from people becoming self-employed or working part-time.

Chris Short, a director at recruitment firm Concept Resourcing, said that there is a growing shift towards a “self-employment economy”.

He said that many companies are hiring self-employed or contract staff rather than taking people on full-time, as self-employed people can provide flexibility to a company.

“Many would-be employees understand that they will often be more attractive to employers if they are self-employed and work on a contract basis,” said Mr Short.

Neil Prothero, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that “surges” in self-employment are often as much a signal of economic weakness as they are a sign of “entrepreneurial zeal”.

Chris Grayling, the employment minister, said that the fall in overall unemployment is welcome.

However he said that he remains “cautious” about what will happen over the next few months due to the “continuing economic challenges” that the UK faces.

Mr Grayling said: “The number of people employed in the private sector is up 205,000 on the quarter, more than offsetting a 39,000 fall in public sector employment.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said that the rise in the number self-employed people should not be viewed negatively. He said that the Government has recently launched the New Enterprise Allowance, which helps jobseekers set up their own business.

Mr Grayling said: “These figures show that with the right support in place it is possible for the private sector to create jobs while the public sector employment is falling.”